Notation
Note: The tunes below are recorded in what
is called “abc notation.” They
can easily be converted to standard musical notation via highlighting with
your cursor starting at “X:1” through to the end of the abc’s, then
“cutting-and-pasting” the highlighted notation into concertina.net’s
incredibly handy “ABC Convert-A-Matic” at

FINALE IN
THE BATTLE OF PRAGUE.
English, March (2/4 time). G Major. Standard tuning. AABBC. One of the most
widely published piano pieces in Britain
and America at
the turn of the century and into the nineteenth was The Battle of Prague(c.
1788) by the Czech-English composer Franz Kotzwara, who died in England
in 1791. A descriptive, episodic work for piano, it features trumpet calls,
patriotic airs, low bass rumbles in imitation of cannon fire, spirited passages
for marching and attacking armies; each section bears a title or a description
of what aspect of the battle is depicted in those measures. Indeed, many of the
melodies from the piece were employed in popular music, including several
marches. O’Farrell (Pocket Companion,
vol. IV), c. 1810; pg. 126.

FINDLAY. Scottish. Bayard (1981) sees this tune as one of the "special
developments" of the tune best known as "Boyne Water," which first began as
"Playing Amang the
Rashes," to be found in William
Graham's Lute Book of 1694.

FINE KNACKS FOR LADIES. English, Air. D Major. Standard tuning. One part. A peddler’s song by
one of the greatest composers and musicians of his time, John Dowland. Kines
(1964) believes the lyrics to be an expression of his feelings for his homeland
during his voluntary exile in Denmark.
It appears in his "2nd Book of Airs" (1600). Kines (Songs From Shakespeare's Plays and Popular
Songs of Shakespeare's Time), 1964; pgs. 58‑59.

FINE TIMES AT OUR
HOUSE [1]. AKA ‑ "Fine Fun at Our
House" (Pa.). AKA and see
"Kitty's Got a Baby‑O."
Old‑Time, Breakdown. USA;
central W.Va., Virginia, Indiana,
southwestern Pa. D Major/Mixolydian (Krassen {Hammons}, Bayard {Yeager &
Yaugher}): A Mixolydian (Bayard {Smalley & Ireland}). AEae, ADae (Hammons)
or standard tunings. ABB (Bayard, 1981): AABB (Krassen). Bayard (1981) points
out that the tune "shades" between major and mixolydian in many
versions, which is "a genuine, and once common, feature of our fiddling
tradition" (pg. 255). He sees some vague resemblance between this tune and
the Scottish "Crieff Fair,"
but was unable to trace the tune further in British Isles
collections. Bayard's (1944) source 'Bub' Yaugher knew the following rhyme
associated with this tune:

***

Possum up a gum stump, Coonie in the holler,

Devil's on the other side‑‑Don't you hear him holler?

***

While another from Fayette County, Pa.,
(Bayard, 1981) gave the following:

FINGALIAN AIR, A (Fonn air Dàin Féinne). Scottish, Slow Air (3/4 time). C
Major. Standard tuning. AABB. "This Fingalian air was acquired through the
predecessor of Mr. Fraser of Leadclune, referred to in note No. 28 ('An Air to
Which Ossian in recited')" {Fraser}. Fraser (The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands
of Scotland and
the Isles), 1874; No. 129, pg. 51.

FINGAL'S CAVE [1]. AKA and see “Miss Guthrie’s.” Scottish, Strathspey.
E Major. Standard tuning. AABBCCD. The tune was composed by John Gow (1764-1826),
one of the sons of the famous fiddler Niel Gow. John removed from Scotland
to London, and with his brother
Andrew established a publishing firm, becoming the English distributor of the
Gow family publications. Fingal's Cave is a 230 ft. deep cave on the island
of Staffa on west coast of Scotland
near the islands of Mull and Iona.
It is a sea cave carved from Tertiary basalt lava flows that have cooled to
form hexagonal columns similar to those of the Giants Causeway in Northern
Ireland. A path on one side of the cave
travels from column to column back into the cave that stretches 250 feet into
the rock, with a height of 70 feet above sea level. It is fabled in art; the
great watercolor painter John Turner painted Fingal’s Cave
in 1832. Composer Felix Mendelsohn wrote an overture called The Hebrides (Fingal’s
Cave), having been inspired by the sight of the caves while on
a trip to Scotland
and Itlay, sent by his father at age 20. Curiously, the cave has no real
associations with Fingal. John Purser explains that the original name of the
main cave is, in Scots Gaelic, Uamh Bhin, meaning a musical or
sweet-sounding cave, and that it is misinterpretations of the Gaelic name that
led to its being called Fingal’s Cave.

FINGER LOCK, THE. Scottish, Pibroch.
A piece of piobaireachd music attributed to Ranald MacAilean Og of Cross on the
Island of Eigg
(c. 1662-1741), said to have been a good performer on harp and fiddle, though he
was best known as a piper. The tune is sometimes associated with Calum
MacRaibeart, the son of an Irish armorer who had been imported (along with his
brother David, a harper) to Muckairn by the Earl of Cawdor. There are numerous
stories and legends about Ranald, colorful and robust. He is said to have been
a man of enormous physical strength—he stopped a mill-wheel turning at full
speed, and was called upon to hold down the dying chief of Clanranald, Evil
Donald (Domhnall Dona Mac ‘ic Ailean), when the Devil came to claim him in
payment for a debt Donald owed. Ranald was supposed to have overcome the ghost
of a headless woman which was terrorizing the district of Morar and Arisaig. He
was known to have been on good terms with the local witches (though he avoided
participating in their rites), and they warned him that they had forseen
impending danger, saving him from drowning on the river Lochy. In his old age
he became blind and bedridden, but scarcely diminished in temper, for if he
thought himself neglected by his kin he would lull them into approaching by his
pleasant talk and calm demeanor, then cuff them a terrible blow about the head
(Sanger & Kinnaird, Tree of Strings,
1992).

FINGER RING. AKA and see "I
Wish't I Had a New Five Cents," "New Five Cents [2].” Old‑Time,
Breakdown/ Song. USA,
Oklahoma. D Major. ADae tuning.
AABB. Originally from African-American tradition. The melody is not the same as
the Kentucky tune “New Five
Cents,” although the lyric suggests at least a floating connection.

FINLAYSTON HOUSE. Scottish, Slow Air. The melody was composed by amateur fiddle‑composer
John Riddell of Ayr
(1718‑95), son of a wig‑maker and his wife, and first appeared in
his collection of Scots tunes published by Robert Bremner, c. 1766. It was the
music for the Scots poet Robert Burns' ("rather indifferent lyric,"
according to Collinson {1966}) elegiac song "Fate gave the word—the arrow
sped," and Burns thought much of the tune, writing in Cromck's Reliques:
"This most beautiful tune is I think the happiest composition of that bard
born genius John Riddell of the family of Glencarnock at Ayr" (in fact,
there is no conclusive evidence that Riddell had any connection with the
Glencarnock family). Finlayston House, on the Firth of Clyde near Glasgow,
was the seat of the Earl of Glencairn, and is the seat of the Chief of the
MacMillan clan.

FINLEY CREEK BLUES.Old-Time, Two-Step. USA, Missouri. D
Major. Standard tuning. ABC. According to Gordon McCann (2008), Missouri
fiddlers frequently attribute the tune to one Zed Tennis, who played on
broadcasts for KWTO (Springfield, Mo.) in the early days of radio. Finley Creek
is a tributary of the James River, flowing through Christian County, Mo., south
of Nixa. Source for notated version: Glenn Rickman (1901-1982, Hurley,
Missouri) [Beisswenger & McCann]. Beisswenger & McCann (Ozark Fiddle
Tunes), 2008; pg. 111. Rounder 0437, Jim Beeler
Kate– “Traditional Fiddle Music of the
Ozarks, vol. 3: Down in the Border Counties” (2000). Rounder 0432, Bob Holt –
“Got a Little Home to Go To” (1998).

FINN POLKA (Kauhauan Polkka). Finnish, Polka. A popular folk tune with the
Finnish ethnic community in northern Wisconsin
(Leavy).

FINNEA LASSES. AKA and see “Killarney
Wonder Schottische [1].” Irish, Schottische. A Dorian. Standard tuning. AB.
The melody was recorded by Donegal fiddler Hughie Gillespie in New
York in the 78 RPM era (paired with “Gurren’s
Castle,”—there is some confusion of tunes and titles, but “Finnea Lasses” is a
version of the “Killarney Wonder”, while “Gurren’s” is a version of “Miss Sarah
Drummond of Perth”). Carlin (Master Collection), 1984; No. 222, pg.
130.

FINNEGAN'S WAKE [1] (Torran
UíFinnguine). AKA - "Tim Finnegan's Wake." AKA and
see “(An) Bhean Spáinneach,” "Doran's Ass," "The French
Musician," “Paddy Doyle,” “The
Spanish Lady.”Irish, New
England; Air (cut time), Polka or March (2/4). D Major (Mallinson,
Miller & Perron, Taylor): C Major (O'Neill): G Major (Tubridy). Standard
tuning. AB (O'Neill): AABB (Mallinson, Miller & Perron, Taylor. Tubridy). A
tune derived from a comic "stage‑Irish" song, which Bayard
(1981) says was known in Pennsylvania
as a folk song called "Dolan's Ass." The first part of the tune, he
observes, is perhaps older than the second.Cazden (et al, 1982) report that Edwin Ford Piper gives 1884 as the date
for the first appearance of the song "Finnegan's Wake," while Charles
Kennedy uses the date of about 1870 for the piece he identifies as an
"Irish-American vaudeville" work. The sheet music was listed as
published in New York by Wm. A.
Pond Co. in 1864, while a different reference from the same year names the air
to the song as "The French Musician." The Journal of the Folk Song Society, vol. IV, pg. 294, gives three
sets of the air, two from the early 18th century and one from camp meeting
spirituals known in Britain
and the U.S.
(all sets resemble the first strain of "Finnegan's Wake"). The song
"Willie Taylor" is sometimes sung to this tune in Ireland.
Sources for notated versions: Hiram Horner (Westmoreland and Fayette Counties,
Pa., 1960), Henry Yeager (Centre County, Pa., 1930's), Fred Miller and Glen
Gelnette (Jefferson County, Pa., 1949) [Bayard]; set dance music recorded at Na Píobairí
Uilleann, late 1980’s [Taylor].
American Veteran Fifer, No. 62.
Bayard (Dance to the Fiddle), 1981;
No. 184A‑C, pgs. 140‑141. Mallinson (100 Polkas), 1997; No. 93, pg. 36. Miller & Perron (New England Fiddlers Repertoire),
1983; No. 57. O'Neill (Music of Ireland:
1850 Melodies), 1903/1979; No. 265, pg. 46. Ostling, pg. 23. Roche Collection, vol 2; No 298 (4th
figure and 1st tune of a quadrille). Taylor
(Music for the Sets: Blue Book),
1995; pg. 21. Tubridy (Irish Traditional Music, Book Two),
1999; pg. 6.

FINNIS JIG. American, Dance Tune (2/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Has
part of "Razors in the Air," an old minstrel tune, in it. American
2/4 tunes were sometimes called 'jigs', perhaps in a reference to 'jig tunes',
a derogatory term for African-Americans. British Isles
duple dance tunes also occasionally were called ‘jigs’ as well, referring to a
kind of solo step dance. Ford (Traditional
Music in America),
1940; pg. 69.

FIRE DOWN BELOW. Old‑Time, Fiddle Tune. The title appears in a list of traditional
Ozark Mountain fiddle tunes compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph,
published in 1954.

FIRE FLY (REEL).American, Reel. D Major.
Standard tuning. AB. It is possible this tune was associated with the stage
production called The Fire Fly,
starring, at one time, the famous mid-19th century actress Lotta
Crabtree (who performed in it in Boston in 1868). Mark Twain was residing in
San Francisco at the time, writing for the Alta California. In the issue of
September 6, 1868, Twain writes:

***

One of the first things that fell under our notice was one of Lotta’s
posters, which bore the

information that she would begin a star engagement at Wallack’s within a
few days. It is

wonderful what a firm hold that young girl has secured upon the good will
of the people

and press of the metropolis—I might say, of the rest of the country
also, but you know that

that follows, of course.Critics
speak guardedly of other actresses, but the praise her without

stint. The Tribune and the other great dailies are her friends. She
draws surprisingly. I see

nothing and hear nothing of her enterprising father. Lotta is to appear
in a new play, “The

Fire Fly,” written especially for her. After speaking of her former
successes in New York,

the Tribune says:

***

She is aptly typical of the luminous
and erratic insect, glancing and gleaming in the night air of

summer. The fact the new drama in
which she will appear comes from the practiced pen of Mr.

Edmund Falconer, is guarantee of its
theatrical merit. ‘The Fire Fly’ is the novelty of the week,

moreover, in theatrical life, and
public attention naturally centres upon it. Mr. Moss, the manager,

is understood to have got up the new
play with uncommon care. Should it prove a success, it

FIRE HIM OUT. American, Reel. A
Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Josephine Keegan’s “Aughacashel” is a similar melody. Micky Soltys
finds the first part of this tune similar to the second part of Bill Monroe’s “Monroe’s Hornpipe.” Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg 24.

FIRE ON/IN THE
MOUNTAIN [1]. AKA and see “Betty Martin,” “Pretty Betty Martin,” “Hog Eye [1],” "Sambo” “Ten
Little Indians,” “Tip Toe Fine."
Old‑Time, Bluegrass; Breakdown. USA, widely known. A Major ('A' part)
& D Major ('B' part) {most versions}: A Major {Beisswenger &
McCann/Walden}. Standard, AEae or ADae tunings. AAB (Brody, Krassen): AA’B
(Beisswenger & McCann): AABB (Lowinger): AABB' (Phillips/1994). A popular
American fiddle tune that has numerousvariants (some quite distanced from each other) and is widely
disseminated throughout the South and Midwest. It is typically played at
breakneck speed, giving rise to popular folklore for the origins of the title:
i.e. the fiddler plays so fast the fiddle catches on fire and lights up the
woods (Lowinger, 1974). The title may be Celtic in origin: Scottish clans often
used blazing bonfires on Highland hills as gathering signals (ironically, this also
may be the origin for the Ku Klux Klan’s blazing crosses).

***

Krassen (1973) notes his 'B' part
has similarities with a 78 RPM recording of Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers'
"Hog‑eyed Man," and Bayard (1981) also recognizes the
similarity between the second parts of the same tunes, though a closer match to
"Fire On the Mountain" he believes to be "Betty Martin,"
which is "reminiscent all through." Guthrie Meade (1980) links the Kentucky
version of the tune (which also goes by the name "Big Nosed Hornpipe") to the
"Sally Goodin'" family of
melodies. “It has been suggested that the tune originated from eastern European
migrants, some of whom made commercial recordings in New York in the early part
of the 20th century,” says Mike Yates (2002). Winston Wilkinson, in
the Southern Folklore Quarterly (vol.
vi, I, March, 1942), gives a bar‑for‑bar comparison of the tune
with a Norse 'halling' tune, set by the Norwegian composer Greig and published
in Copenhagen in 1875 (Norges Melodier,
1875 & 1922, iv, pg. 72). The tunes are so close as to be almost certainly
cognate. Bayard records the tune's earliest American publication date is 1814
or 1815 in Riley's Flute Melodys
(where it appears as "Free on the Mountains"), and as "I Betty
Martin" in A. Shattuck's Book, a
fiddler’s manuscript book dating from around 1801. Mike Yates (2002) summarizes
that “’Fire on the Mountain(s)’ is one of a broad family of early 18th
century (or earlier) tunes that shades into one another and are as old as ‘Hey
Betty Martin, Tip Toe.’”

***

The piece was recorded in the early
1940's from Ozark Mountain fiddlers by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph
for the Library of Congress. It is on Missouri fiddler Charlie Walden’s list of
‘100 essential Missouri fiddle tunes’. Lowe Stokes (1898-1983), one of the
north Georgia band 'The Skillet Lickers' fiddlers, remembered it as having been
fiddled by his father. The Red Headed Fiddlers, A.L ‘Red’ Steeley and J.W.
‘Red’ Graham, recorded the tune in 1929, titled by the recording engineers as
“Far in the Mountain”—evidently they were from the North and could not
recognize the correct title when pronounced with Southern accents.

***

Verses are sometimes sung to the
melody, especially in the variants by other names such as “Betty Martin,” “Ten
Little Indians,” “Pretty Betty Martin” and “Hog-eye.” Wilkinson (1942) says
that the following verse made its way into some editions of Mother Goose[see Mother Goose’s Quarto, Boston, 1825]:

***

Fire on the mountains, run, boys, run,

Fire on the mountains, run, boys, run.

***

Other verses (some of which are
floating) have been:

***

Fire on the mountain,
run boy run;

Sal, let me chaw your
rosin some.

***

Fire on the mountain,
run, boys, run;

Fire on the mountain
till the day is done.

***

Fire on the mountain,
water down below;

Never get to heaven
'less you jump Jim Crow.

***

Fire on the Mountain,
fire on the hillside

Fire on theMountain, run, boys, run.

***

Old Uncle Cyrus fished
all night,

Never caught a fish on
a crawfish bite.

***

Old mother Taylor she
drinks whiskey,

Old mother Taylor she
drinks wine.

Old mother Taylor she
got drunk,

Swung across the river
on a pumpkin vine.

***

Two little Indians lying
in bed,

One turned over and
the other one said,

Fire on the mountain
coming son,

Fire on the mountain
run boy run.

***

Two little Indians and
their squaw

Sittin' on a mountain
in Arkansas.

***

All little Indians
gonna drink whisky

All little Indians gonna
get drunk.

***

All my little Indians don’t drink liquor,

All my little Indians don’t get drunk.(Sam Connor. The last two lines were also remembered by Arkansas fiddler
Skeeter Walden)

***

Opie connects the lyric with the
minstrel song “Jim Along Josie,” absorbed into play-party tradition. “Jim Along
Josie” was remembered from Missouri play-parties in the 1880’s with the words:

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
[3]. American, Dance Tune (4/4 time). D
Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Samuel Bayard (1943) is of the opinion that his Pennsylvania
collected version bears a slight resemblance to the well‑known "Shortnin' Bread," and points
out that the title has apparently been a floating one for some time, noting its
inclusion in Joyce's Irish collection. "With the first part of "Fire
on the Mountain," compare the melody of 'The Organ Grinder Swing'"
(Bayard). Source for notated version: Irvin Yaugher Jr., Mt. Independence, Pa.,
October 19, 1943. Learned from his great‑uncle [Bayard]. Bayard (Hill Country Tunes), 1944; No. 10.

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN
[5]. AKA and see "Old Time Fire On
the Mountain." Old-Time, Breakdown. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB. No
relation to any other versions by this title. The 'B' part is a variant of the
'A', played an octave down. Source for notated version: Sam Connor [Phillips].
Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle
Tunes), vol. 1, 1994; pg. 86.

FIRESIDE REEL. Scottish, Reel. The melody appears in both the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possession of the Earl of
Ancaster at Drummond Castle), inscribed " A Collection of the best
Highland Reels written by David Young, W.M. & Accomptant" (1734), and
the Bodleian Manuscript (in the
Bodleian Library, Oxford), inscribed " A Collection of the Newest Country
Dances Performed in Scotland written at Edinburgh by D.A. Young, W.M.
1740."

FIRST
LOVE POLKA. American, Polka. B Flat Major.
Standard tuning. AABB. Attributed to “Downing” by Howe, who may be referring to
New York bandleader David L. Downing, a prominent Civil War era arranger of
such pieces as “Dixie’s Land Medley Quick Step” (1861) and the “Kazoodie
Ko Whirl Overture” (1852). Howe (1000
Jigs and Reels), c. 1867; pg. 50.

FIRST NIGHT IN
LEADVILLE. AKA and see "Ross' Reel [1].” Old-Time, Breakdown. E
Major. Standard tuning. AABB. The tune appears in the mid-19th
century publications by Howe as “Ross’ Reel.” New York musician, writer and
researcher Don Meade believes the tune was named for the Colorado mining
boomtown. Similar in title is “The Last Night in Leadville.” Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 22. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg. 47.

FIRST OF APRIL, THE. English, Country Dance Tune (6/8 time). A
Major. Standard tuning. AABB. Published before 1730 according to Raven, though Barnes
and Johnson date it c. 1773. Barnes (English
Country Dance Tunes), 1986. S. Johnson (Twenty‑Eight
Country Dances as Done at the New Boston
Fair), vol. 8, 1988; pg. 4. Raven (English
Country Dance Tunes), 1984; pg. 27.

FIRST OF AUGUST. AKA and see "Glorious
First of August," "The
Weaver's March," "The
Gallant Weaver," "Twenty-First
of August," "Frisky Jenny,"
"The Tenth of June," "Come Jolly Bacchus," "Charles of Sweden," "The Liffey Banks." English. The
title commemorates the accession of King George I, in 1714, according to Kidson
(Groves), who believes Jones is wrong
when he asserts it refers to the traditional date of the Britonnic Celtic
festival of Lammas, one of the four great pagan festivals in the calendar year,
or to the paying of Welsh tithes. The tune is sometimes claimed as Welsh,
continued Kidson, as it was printed in that country in 1802 with the suggestion
of antiquity, however, as “Frisky Jenny” the same melody appears in Playford’s Dancing Master of the mid-17th
century and was long a favorite in England. The claim for Welsh provenance has
no merit, according to Kidson (Groves),
who believes that it is probably Swedish (see his article in The Musical Times, Sept. 1895, pg. 593).
Samuel Bayard (in his article “A Miscellany of Tune Notes,” Studies in Folklore, pg. 171) finds “The First of August” in
Edward Jones’s The Bardic Museum
(London: 1802; the second volume of his Relicks),
pg. 104 (referred to by Kidson, above), and in W. Bigley’s Sixty of the Most Admired, etc., pg. 41. He concludes it is
“nothing but the once popular English ‘Come Jolly Bacchus’, or ‘Glorious First
of August’”. The name “First of August” is also given to a Scots country dance.

FIRST OF MAY [1], THE (An Cead La Bealteine). AKA and see “The Mayday Hornpipe.” Irish, English,
Scottish; Hornpipe. A Dorian/Mixolydian (O’Neill/1915, Phillips, Raven,
Taylor): A Mixolydian (Emmerson, Roche, Stanford/Petrie): A Major (Kerr,
O'Neill/1850). Standard tuning. AB (Stanford/Petrie): AABB (Allans, Emmerson,
O'Neill, Raven, Roche, Taylor): AA'BB' (Kerr, Phillips). The first of May was
traditionally a day for romance and was important in ancient times as the date
of the festival of La Bealtaine (the day of the mouth of the fire), one of the
most important Celtic celebrations. During Bealtaine ceremonial fires would be
lit on either side of a path and cattle driven up the middle to purify them for
the coming year and to help protect them against disease and insure their
health. Philippe Varlet says the tune was quite popular during the 78 RPM era
and was recorded by Tom Ennis, Packie Dolan, and the Flanagan Brothers, among
others. O'Neill (1913, pg. 132), Bayard (1981) and Emmerson (1971) all say this
double hornpipe is either a derivative, a variant, or development from a common
ancestor of the jig tune known as "Fagamaoid sud mar ata se" (Let Us Leave That As It Is),
or "The Galbally Farmer,"
"Get Up Early," "The Rakes of Kildare," "The (Old) Barndoor Jig." The group
Téada recorded the tune as “The Mayday Hornpipe.” Don Meade points out the
melody was the air of several songs, including “The Little Skillet Pot.” See
note for “Arthur’s Seat [2]" for
another association to the first of May.

***

“The First of May” also shows up in
Ireland as the first tune in a medley of flings called “The Four Provinces.”

***

The title is among those mentioned
in Patrick J. McCall’s 1861 poem “The Dance at Marley,” the first three stanzas
of which goes:

***

Murtagh Murphy’s barn was full to the door when the eve
grew dull,
For Phelim Moore his beautiful new pipes had brought to charm them;
In the kitchen thronged the girls - cheeks of roses, teeth of pearls -
Admiring bows and braids and curls, till Phelim’s notes alarm them.
Quick each maid her hat and shawl hung on dresser, bed, or wall,
Smoothed down her hair and smiled on all as she the bawnoge entered,
Where a shass of straw was laid on a ladder raised that made
A seat for them as still they stayed while dancers by them cantered.

***

Murtagh and his vanithee had their chairs brought in to
see
The heels and toes go fast and free, and fun and love and laughter;
In their sconces all alight shone the tallow candles bright -
The flames kept jigging all the night, upleaping to each rafter!
The pipes, with noisy drumming sound, the lovers’ whispering sadly drowned,
So the couples took their ground - their hearts already dancing!
Merrily, with toe and heel, airily in jig and reel,
Fast in and out they whirl and wheel, all capering and prancing.

***

“Off She Goes,” “The Rocky Road,” “The Tipsy House,” and
“Miss McLeod,”
“The Devil’s Dream,” and “Jig Polthogue,” “The Wind that Shakes the Barley,”
“The First o’May,” “The Garran Bwee,” “Tatther Jack Welsh,” “The River Lee,”
-
As lapping breakers from the sea the myriad tunes at Marley!
Reels of three and reels of four, hornpipes and jigs galore,
With singles, doubles held the floor in turn, without a bar low;
But when the fun and courting lulled, and the dancing somewhat dulled,
The door unhinged, the boys down pulled for “Follow me up to Carlow.”

FIRST OF SEPTEMBER, THE. American, Reel or March. D Major. Standard
tuning. AABB. In England and Scotland the first of September is celebrated as the
opening day of partridge season, although this is not perhaps what is honored
by the title. The “First of September” appears in Joshua Cushing’s Fifer’s Companion (pg. 69), published in
Salem, Massachusetts, in 1805. Miller (Fiddler’s
Throne), 2004; No. 338. Sweet (Fifer’s
Delight), 1964/1981; pg. 73 (includes a harmony part).

FIRTH OF CROMORTIE, THE.Scottish, Reel. E Minor. Standard tuning. AB. The melody appears in John
and Andrew Gow’s A Collection of Slow
Airs, Strathspeys and Reels (London,
c. 1795). Andrew (1760-1803) and younger brother John (1764-1826) established a
publishing business in London in
1788 and were the English distributors for the Gow family musical publications.
The Firth of Cromartie or Cromarty is formed from the Orron Water, a stream
arising in the mountains of Ross-shire, which meets with other streams flowing
from Loch Gillon and Loch Luichart, as it flows to the north-east. Dingwall
lies at the head of the bay. Source for notated version: John & Andrew
Gow’s Collection (c. 1792) [S.
Johnson]. S. Johnson (A Twenty Year Anniversary Collection), 2003; pg. 23.